“A collection of profound and epic album reviews and musical articles by former astronaut and brain surgeon, Alasdair Kennedy. Reaching levels of poetry that rival Keats and Blake, the following reviews affirm Alasdair to be a prodigy, a genius and a god whose opinion is always objectively right. He is also without a doubt the most modest man in the universe.” - Alasdair Kennedy

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Friday, 2 December 2016

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 02/12/2016: Run the Jewels, Little Death Machine, Mr. Twin Sister and more...

It’s December, which means you can
now put up your Christmas decorations and year-end lists, although a lot of you
impatient fuckers already did that back in September. For those who aren’t
currently buying Easter eggs already and planning their 2017 favourite albums
list, here are some songs from the last week to remind you what the here and
now looks like!

THE BEST:

‘Legend Has It’ – Run the Jewels

Some of the singles previewed off
Run the Jewels’ upcoming third album have personally sounded a bit ‘meh’, but
this new banger with its stomping beat and wicked boasts has me wetting myself
with excitement again. Killer Mike’s line and about going into jail and
murdering all the murderers and El-P’s line about every one of his albums being
his ‘dick in a box’ are favourites. This duo are simply too badass.

‘Lay Lady Lay’ - Little Death
Machine

London noise/electronic/punk trio
Little Death Machine (who I interviewed earlier this year on the blog) deliver
this unlikely cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Lay Lady Lay’. It’s got a sensual
Moby-meets-Massive-Attack vibe – a total reinvention of the original that I’d
love to see picked up in some slick car ad.

Mr. Twin Sister were one of the
first bands I featured when I started this Tracks of the Week section five
centuries ago (it’s actually only been two years – can you believe that?). Clearly
the Long Island experimental pop group are still going strong, as evident by
this new funky jam - lead singer Andrea laying some smoky Bjork-ish vocals over
a hypnotic patchwork of Yes-inspired groovy guitars.

‘Give it Up’ – Parallax

UK rapper/producer Parallax is being
slept on – I for one can’t believe I’m new to him. Although only a freestyle,
the bars here are extra-ordinarily tight and the boom-bap beat is pure sex. Forget
all that trap rap for a minute and soak up that old-skool sound.

This new feelgood indie tune is the
work of Hideout, the project of Cults-guitarist Gabe Rodriguez, which may mean
something to someone. It’s a warm and cheery hangover song about getting a text from
that chick you’ve been into and not being quite able to quite believe it.

THE WORST:

‘I Want More’ – Ice JJ Fish

If out-of-tune falsettos become the next trend in music, I'm emigrating Earth.